Each year, in conjunction with the Media for a Just Society Awards, Evident Change recognizes one superior piece of media with the Distinguished Achievement Award. The recipient is chosen by a panel of guest judges. Read about the members of this year’s panel below.
Emmanuel Dzotsi is the co-host of Reply All. Before that, he produced and reported stories for NPR member stations and later worked on This American Life and Serial. Over the last couple of years he has covered a variety of stories at the intersection of race and culture, from a historic divide in the Alabama Democratic Party, to so-called Venmo reparations, to criminal justice reform. As a co-host on the third season of Serial, Emmanuel was part of a team that received an Edward R. Murrow Award and a Media for a Just Society Award for their coverage of Cleveland’s felony courts.
Tracy Wareing Evans is the President and CEO of the American Public Human Services Association. This bipartisan national membership organization represents the cabinet-level leadership of state and local health and human services agencies and the subject-matter experts who help execute their mission to improve outcomes for people nationwide. Tracy has a long history in high-level policy development and public administration. She served as a senior advisor to US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and as director of the Arizona Department of Economic Security, an integrated human services agency. She also served as policy adviser for human services under then Arizona Gov. Napolitano and as director of the state’s child welfare division.
C’Ardiss (CC) Gardner Gleser is the first Director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives at the Satterberg Foundation, whose mission is to promote a just society and sustainable environment. She currently serves on the boards of Andrus Family Fund, Charlotte Martin Foundation, and Philanthropy Northwest. CC previously served as the national president of the Yale Black Alumni Association and on Yale’s Board of Governors. She was a Brainerd Fellow and a partner with Social Venture Partners Seattle, where she co-chaired the Social Venture Teen Philanthropy Program. CC founded Black Ivy Manor, which provides funding and other opportunities for Black scholars, artists, and social justice advocates to develop their crafts and voices while cultivating relationships with one another. CC earned her bachelor’s degree in African American studies from Yale University and an MEd in education administration from Seattle University.